Convertible billiard-table.



.H. F, DAVENPORT. CONVERTIBLE BILLIARD TABLE. iRrLmATmN FILED JULY 12,1906.

- Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

' 2 sums-gum 1.

H. F. DAVENPORT. v CONVERTIBLE BILLIARD TABLE. 2,1900.

PatentedOct. 6,1908.

UNITED srnr ts PATENT OFFICE,

HARMON'F. DAVENPORT, or extreme, ILLINOIS, assieNoR TO THE ea NswwK-BALKE- ,COLLENDER coMr NY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., AconPonATroN or OHIO.

CONVERTIBLEiBILLIARD-TABILE. 4

No. scopes.

Patented Oct. 6, 190a.

Application filed; July" 12,1908. Serial No. 325,766.

To all it concern;

PORT, a citizen of the United States; residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Convertible Billiard-Tables,

of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying draw- 1 curing thumb-screws has to be separately in formi ng part thereof y invention relates to what is known as a convertible pocket-carom billiard table of that genus in which two sets ofinterchangeable cushion-rails, nainely "one for making the-table a carom table, and the other for making it a pocket table, are employed; ac cording to the general construction of what is nowwell known in the market as thefBartel convertible, table; and'to this type of convertible table, when made to comprise the specific construction, with reference to the means for permitting the detachmentpf and re-securing in place to the table-rails proper, of, the two kinds of cushion-rails,

and to the purchasing that is fully shown and'desoribed ina coendin application of mine,; filed Novemer 20t 1, 1905, Serial No. 288,118. And my said present invention has for its object, solely, a changeor variation in the rail-securing device or organism'madethe subject of ,my said other application, by which I am enabled to effectuate at pleasure, when cir-' cumstances may require it, asep'arate and distinct, independent, ad ustment, by. hand,

of each and every one of the male members of the locking mechanism.

-Within the past six years or so, what is known as the Bartel convertible billiard table, on which Letters Patent No.'650,085, of May 22, 1900, was granted, has gone into successful and very extensiveuse. specifying the particularities of this'novel construction of convertible billiard table, I may remark that its construction and operation, which is now and has been-for a good while, well known to those skilled in the art, public, Will be found fully set forth in the sald United States Letters Patent. I

In the Bartel table, as heretofore extensively made and sold, the cushion-rails, asis well known, are removably, but very securely,

attached to and detached from what are called the bed-rails of the table, by means of a "series of vertically arranged thumbscrews; which pass upwardly through the.

bar; all so that, by a slight and ra lWi-thout tudinal section of the same I I bed-rails and are manipulated from beneath, Be it known-that I, HARMON 1*. DAVE by hand, and which engage, at their upper, threaded, ends, with nuts which are-securely and" permanently attached. to, or let-into, the cushion rails ro er. Under this fienstruction, as 'is W151 own, 'in making the transformation from .one end to the other kind of table, quite a number of these semanipulated byhand (usually five or six of each longer, and three or four of each shorter set of cushion-rails) which involves considerable time and trouble by the user,

or bythe person making' the transforma tion. I I

The invention of my co-pendm case,

which is herein shown and described, ut not claimed, has for its-object to render much easier and more. expeditious the manipula tion of'the translatable sets of. cushion-rails of the Bartel type of table; and consists, essentially, .in the combination with the series of female fastening members, located in the removablecushion-rail, of a series of male fastening members attached to a sliding bar in the stationary bed-rail; and a hand, actuating-device, for working the said slide idmani ulation of a single hand-lever, al the ma e fastenin members (of any one bed-rail) may be sirnu taneously and rapidly moved into the locking position and vice versa.

7 In the drawings, Figure 1 is a partial top view of the usual Bartel convertible table, as now made and sold, with the improvement applied, (though not visible) that constit'ut-es the subject matter of my resent application; showing, however, on y one cor- -ner of the pocket table, and a set of pocket cushions applied thereto. Flg. 2 is a smular view of the same thing; but with a set of caren cushions applied to the table. Fig. 3 is avertical cross sectional view of'somuch of the table as is seen in each.0f the )receding figures, showing the construction 0 the locking mechanism made thesubject of mycopending case, altered.- or changed to comprise the improvement made the sub ect of this application. Fig; 4 is a vertical, longiparts and deelevation showing vices; Fig. 5 is a detail for operating the one of .the sliding rods,

male members of the locking mechanism,

with the attached male members made according to my present invention or improve- X20 perforated with a cording to the Bartel 3 tables, t

ment. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation, on an nlarged scale, of one of the adjustable male member devices of the locking mechanism. Fig. 7 is a vertical, central cross section of the same-on the scale shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a vertical, partial, longitudinal section of the table, taken in a plane indicated at line 8-8 of Fig. 4. 0

.In the several figures, the same parts will 10 be found always designated by the same letters of reference.

0 And in both my co-pending case and this one, each and everyone of the detachable and re-attachable cushion-rails B, is ro 1 5 vided with a plurality of metallic nutike devices 9, each'of whichis let into the stock of the cushion-rail, so that its lower end lies about flush with the bottom surface of said rail; and each of these metallic devices is polygonal aperture, runmn through the device in the direction of the 'ength of the table-rail. And adapted to engage with this aperture, in each one of the said nut-like devices g, is a male fastening de- 2 5 vice member-f which is of an approximately wedge-shaped configuration, in side view,

and integral with which is a body-portion f, of

platelike form, which, extending downwardly and being located in a housing'or cutaway in both the removable cushion-rail B,

and the stationary bed-rail F, hasits lower end indirectly connected (as will be reseiitly explained) 'toa lon 'tudinally shding bar-I, whichis housed wit "n the lower portion of the bed-rail of the table, and is free to move, endwise, on supportin .which is held against any movement, by over-lying metallic devices. The functionof this sliding bar I, is to form 40 a connection between all the vertically arranged sliding plates f of any one cushionrail, to enforce a similar and simultaneous movement thereof when any one ismoved. In my'said co-pending application, all these male members are immovably ,or perma- 'nently secured, in sets or series, to slidin metallic rods,- which are operated or caused to slide in one direction, to effectuate the locking in place of interchangeable rails, and in the other to release them, by means ofa hand-lever arranged at one side of the tablerails of the billiard table.

Now, practical experience in the use of the invention, made the subject if my other 5 5 pending case, applied to or comprised in what is known as the Bartel convertible table,

has'demonstrated the fact that, while such tables, made with in ,.%much more desirab e than t ose made acpatent and under ordinary circumstances are so perfectly satisfactory or acceptable in practical ,use as to need no. change or improvement. "it sometimes ha pens, in the use ofthsse' convertible at, by reason of some slight shrinkdevices; and odily upward said im rovement, are

-t1on, that constltutes age or warpage of some of the wooden parts of the structure; or from some un'due wear of some one or more of the members of the metallic locking mechanism ;'or from some other unseen or unaccountable causesome 7 one or more of the interchangeable cushionrails will cease to be properly held in place by the locking-mechanism, at every one of the points of attachment of the interchangeable rails to the permanent rails; and of course,

under such, exceptional, condition of affairs, the removable rail will not -t1on .at some one point; on account of 1ts not.

act with erfecbeing solidl or securely enou h held in place, on t e permanent rail, y locking mechanism. To overcome this, rather infrequent, but possible defect in mode of operatlon of the Bartel table, as now manufactured and sold, embodying the improvement of my said co-pending case, I have conceived g5 and particularly developed, and used with perfect success, the further improvement made the subject of this application; which consists, essentially, in having each and every one of the male members of the locking mechanism adjustably instead of immovably, applied'to the sliding rod, that o erates a series of the male members. 'An in the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, I have shown this new idea 5 reduced to practice underthe specific or precise detail construction of locking mechanism which I have sofar successfully practiced.

In the drawing, A is a ortion of the bed of a Bartel convertibletab e, to which are ap-' 00 plied securel in the usual manner, the series of bed rails combined with the lower ortion of which is the sliding rod I, for the male members of the locking devices, and the connected means for operating or manipulatin the same by hand, comprising the spindle with its laterally rojecting arm 4; a lever M, with a handle Bl and aspring securing device P, for the hand lever M; all after thefashion or in the manner fully set forth in my said pending application; and constituting no essential part of my present invention; while g are the female members of the locking devices inserted within the interchan cable or removable top rails B, to the forwar faces of which, as usual, are secured the linings D, of the cushions proper of the table; all in substantially the manner well known to those skilled in the art and familiar with the manufacture of the Bartel convertible table.

At Fi s. 5, 6, and 7 more particularlyis shown t e change, in the lockin mechanism made the subject of my co-pen ing applicathe subject matter of this case; and by reference to these figures, more particularly, (while Figs. 3and 4 also show the construction and operation of mg improved device) it will be seen that can one of the male members of the series of locking devicesmarked f, and made as in the 3 case of my pending application, with alaterally pro ecting and movable engaging, cam: l ke, prong j, (that engages with the aperture of the female member) is arranged which is also'made with a horizontaldepression J (see Figs. 3, dand 7) for the'accommodation of't e actuat' bar I of the 'locking mechanism, to whic bar I, saidholder device It is securely fastened by' screws or rivets or in any other suitable manner.

portion of each one of the vertically mov-- able portions f of the male member is bored and tapped out to receive the end 'of ascrew' rod, or adjusting screw Z, which is provided at'its lower protrudingend, with a thumb nut n, and which is surrounded, preferablyto the female member of the locking device,

the vlaterally projecting cam like fork or finger f 2 of said male member. And it will be understood that, by reasonof this novel construction, of each one of the male members of the locking mechanism, whereby any one of the engaging forks or fingers f may be member of adjusted to, or set in either a lower or higher position, (by manipulation of the set screws 1) while the holder h and the. bar I, carryingthe saidmale member f, retain a fixed or predetermined piosition, relatively to the female e locking mechanism and other parts of the table, I am enabled, in case of necessity therefor, (which asI have said," ,does'not often, but does sometimes arise) to adjust or set any one of the male members f so that when .a series of these members is simultaneously moved into the proper looking position, in the manner set forth, said once of the members 1 will 0 crate difi'erently, or differently coact wit the female member g; as the surrounding conditions ofthe entire structure orof the entire locking mechanism may require.

It has been demonstrated by extended i ublic use, on a series of tables, that the And it will also be seen that the lower end erein described change in, or improvement .on the automatic locking mechanism made the subject of my other pending case, is of considerable im ortance, in the manufacture, use and sa e of what are known as the Bartel convertible pocket-carom tables, made with my (previously applied for 1nvention embodie therein Having now so fully explained the general character as well as the objects of my present improvement; and its construction and operation, so that those skilled in the art can make and use my invention, what I'claim as new and desire to secure by-Letters Patent 7 table of the type alluded to, the co1nbination, with the sliding rod for actuating a series of male looking devices, of male mem- '11; a convertible pocket-carom billiard bers, each of which is vertically adjustable within a suitable holder or housing that, in, turn, is permanently secured to the saidsliding rod; all in substantially the manner 

